A Pale Imitation
by Lialane Graest
Summary: Marie cowered in the corner of the lab, knowing she couldn't hide for long from the man that was hunting her. She clutched her hand to the cut on her right arm, trying to stem the flow of blood, but it seeped through her fingers, staining everything it touched. The woman was terrified, her breathing ragged from pain and fear as the man stepped into the room.


Marie cowered in the corner of the lab, knowing she couldn't hide for long from the man that was hunting her. She clutched her hand to the cut on her right arm, trying to stem the flow of blood, but it seeped through her fingers, staining everything it touched. The woman was terrified, her breathing ragged from pain and fear.

The man stepped into the room, a single scalpel dangling from his fingers, her blood dripping off the tip to land on the floor; it slid down his arm, pooling onto the scalpel and Marie believed she could hear every drop fall. She pressed herself against the wall, willing her injured arm into a hammer and tried to stop breathing.

'_He can't hear me if I'm making no noise.'_ She thought desperately as she heard the door shut quietly behind the man. She strained her eye, but couldn't see him in the dark room. She could hear him though, and managed to take a silent breath as he came near enough for her to smell the blood that clung to him like a jacket. It made her want to gag, but she fought the impulse, remaining as quiet as possible.

It appeared to work, the man moved off, stalking out of the room. She held her breath longer though, still afraid that he was close enough to hear the quiet gasp when she took in a much needed breath. She only stayed put for a few seconds longer after beginning to breathe before she bolted as quietly as she could out of the room and towards what she was hoping was the front door.

He was waiting for her. With a shriek she flung herself backwards, the man's bloody scalpel just barely missing her stomach. Her transformed arm struck out as she darted towards him, managing to score a solid hit on him, and knocked him through the wall. The man stood groggily, the accursed weapon dropped somewhere in the rubble.

Marie ran, ignoring the shards of glass embedded in her feet, the multiple scrapes and cuts on her body, the muscles that ached with every step she took. She had to get out. If she didn't, he was going to kill her.

And she was too weak by herself to defeat him. She needed Stein.

The only problem was that Stein was still at that crappy hotel they had rented a room at, pouring over research notes in a vain attempt to pinpoint the prekishin that they had been sent after. He had shared so many similarities to Stein that Shinigami-sama thought it would be good if Stein were the one to defeat him, as the prekishin was dangerously close to becoming a full-fledged kishin.

Marie prayed that she was going the right way for a change, that her horrible sense of direction wouldn't be the death of her. She rounded the corner and found herself facing stairs leading up. A desperate look behind her revealed nothing but dimly lit darkness and Marie hesitated before pounding up the stairs, hoping to find a window she could escape through.

After hitting the next floor she saw a sliver of light and locked onto it, darting over to what had obviously been a window at one time. She easily bashed the boards off of it and was nearly blinded by the brightness of the morning.

'_I've been gone that long?'_ She thought quickly as she dropped out of the window. _'Stein must have fallen asleep waiting on me by now. I wonder if he's worried about where I am…'_ She hit the ground hard, rolling and hissing in pain. The man appeared in the window a second later and to Marie's surprise, jumped down behind her.

She stood and started to run, but collapsed onto the ground, agony shooting up her ankle and into her leg. The prekishin leered down at her, and Marie brought her arm up to shield herself, knowing that she was finished.

"_Oh, Franken…"_ She whispered as the man darted at her, yet another scalpel brandished and ready to tear into her flesh. She clenched her eye closed, fear pouring from every fiber of her being.

A white blur slammed into him, and the man went flying. Marie's eye went wide as she looked at the stitched back of Stein's lab coat, the tails flapping in the breeze. He glanced over his shoulder at her and twisted the screw in his head.

"I've been all over the city looking for you, Marie." He said calmly as he waited for the man to regain his feet; Stein's wavelength crackled around his hands. "Next mission, you're not allowed to go anywhere by yourself."

Marie just nodded as Stein looked back at the other doctor. "You do realize that you've broken your Hippocratic Oath, yes?" Stein asked cordially. "If I have to follow it, you damn well better believe that you do too." His voice had dropped into a menacing tone.

Laughter bellowed from the man. And he lunged at Stein, his scalpel's blade ready to connect and tear apart the scientist. Stein casually sidestepped him, slamming both hands into the man's back and knocking him a good 40 feet away. Blood covered the concrete where the man landed, and Stein laughed.

"Pale imitation." He jeered as he darted at the stunned man, his wavelength slamming the man into the ground. A second later a red, mottled soul floated in the air above where the prekishin had been. Stein turned to Marie, a sadistic grin on his face that melted off as quickly as she noticed it.

"Well then, now that our mission is done, let's see about those injuries, shall we?" He said as he moved back to her and knelt down. One hand gently touched her obviously swollen ankle. He just glanced at her and shrugged. "You're getting clumsy. That was only a one story drop and you managed to break your ankle."

Marie swatted at him. "At this point I'm just glad to be alive, Franken."

He slipped his arms underneath her and picked her up. She leaned her head against his chest and winced a bit as he inadvertently hit one of the bruises on her back.

A dry chuckle escaped him as he responded. "I'm glad you are too, Marie. I was afraid I may be too late once I located you and realized you were with the kishin egg. Now then, once we get back to the hotel we'll take care of those injuries and I'll get you some pain killers."

Marie nodded against his chest, the lack of sleep and sudden lack of adrenaline hitting her, and fell asleep, cradled in his arms.

* * *

**A/N: I don't own Soul Eater :D And I loved writing this for some reason :)**


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